Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, and others at Facebook were jubilant when the stock market opened Friday morning.
Facebook

On "Meet the Press" this weekend, Jim Cramer called Facebook's initial public offering a total fiasco and "one of the worst handled things I've ever seen." That's because the stock climbed only 23 cents, or just over 0.6 percent. Many said Facebook fizzled.

A surging stock on the first day of trading is certainly a success for those insiders with relationships to the investment bankers who can make an instant bundle. And the investment banker also does better under that scenario.

But my definition of a successful launch of a new publicly traded stock doesn't rest on how much money the investment bankers make. It rests on how close the offering price is to where the stock actually trades.